Bio and Social Media Links: Judith Starkston writes historical fiction and mysteries set in Troy and the Hittite Empire. Ms. Starkston is a classicist (B.A. University of California, Santa Cruz, M.A. Cornell University) who taught high school English, Latin and humanities. She and her husband have two grown children and live in Arizona with their golden retriever Socrates. Hand of Fire is her debut novel.
Blurb: The Trojan War threatens Troy’s allies and the Greek supply raids spread. A young healing priestess, designated as future queen, must defend her city against both divine anger and invading Greeks. She finds strength in visions of a handsome warrior god. Will that be enough when the half-immortal Achilles attacks? Hand of Fire, a tale of resilience and hope, blends history and legend in the untold story of Achilles’s famous captive, Briseis.
My thoughts:
As the war between the Greeks and the Trojans rages and every day brings the threat closer to Lyrnessos Briseis watches her priestess mother die and knows that the legacy her mother has bequeathed her is going to be a hard one. For now Briseis must take over her mother’s role as priestess to the goddess of healing, Kamrusepa and although destined and taught from birth to be a healer and to serve Kamrusepa, Briseis is not sure she will be as good as her mother was. Briseis also has other roles to take on, as the city’s only remaining healer and supervising the household in her mother’s place and also, before long as wife to the Prince Mynes. Betrothed to Mynes from childhood, the day is fast approaching when Briseis will have to wed the prince whose temper she fears.
As her father and brothers train as warriors in anticipation of joining ranks with their Troy allies, Briseis and Mynes wed and Briseis life changes forever. Married to a man of cruel nature who takes pleasure in violence, Briseis is lucky to have her old nurse Eurome as companion and to find an ally in the Queen’s maid. Her pride in her work as a healer and attending the Council meetings are her only escape from the rigid and dull life she has married into.
And all the while the war at Troy rages on and before long the King has declared that the men of Lyrnessos must go fight at Troy too. Leaving behind his son Mynes with some warriors to defend their city the King and his men, Briseis’ father amongst them, head off to battle. But Lyrnessos is not safe, especially in the hands of headstrong Mynes and the city is soon under attack from the Greeks and Briseis finds herself a captive of the Greeks and headed to Troy to who knows what.
No longer a woman of any importance, Briseis awaits her fate along with serving women, farmers and shopkeeper’s wives; a fate that means coming into contact with the greatest warrior of all, Achilles.
With great skill has Judith Starkston told this tale of the Trojan War from Briseis’ point of view. The sheer scale of the horror and mutilation, death and greed abounds in this colourful depiction of war. For Briseis this war is not about glory and recompense it is about the loss of family and loved ones, of a beloved city razed to the ground; it is about love and fear and confusion. It is an echo down the years of what war does.
In these pages war becomes real; the stench of mud and filth, unwashed bodies and decaying meat; a river of blood and torn limbs; innocent lives battered against a wall from the overpowering madness that is pointless violence. But there is strength too. Not the warriors whose strength lies in bringing death and pain but the strength of the captive women who are just so much flesh to be used and abused as the men see fit yet the women group together, drawing strength and support from each other and Briseis’ strength and courage will see her overcome the loss and pain and find a way forward in a new life.
Although I have not read The Iliad, from which Judith Starkston draws for this novel, I have read Troilus and Cressida and done background reading of the Trojan war so I was delighted to read and review this book which brought to life the atrocities of this war and also the tranquility that was life by in Lyrnessos and other places until they found themselves involved by their allegiance to Troy and destroyed by the greed of the Agamemnon. A war fought over one beautiful woman and yet causing so much fear, death and loss and this novel brings that to the fore. There are also wonderful accounts of and forays into the ancient tales of gods and goddesses and the beliefs of the Bronze Age which fascinate and bewitch. The writing is descriptive, beautifully so; I could picture the peaks and valleys of Mount Ida, the squalidness of the Greek camp, the oppressive atmosphere of the King’s citadel and the warmth of Briseis family home and Briseis voice through it all renders the story heart warming and horrific in turn. But it is Judith’s depiction of Achilles through the eyes of Briseis which makes this novel really something to think about. Destined to die, this great warrior man it seems did have a heart and was maybe not the great brute we are led to believe. Certainly a very interesting and believable portrayal and one worthy of more thought.
Overall, a fascinating, informative and in depth delve into one of the greatest stories of all time.
Find an excerpt, Q&A, book reviews, ancient recipes, historical background as well as on-going information about the historical fiction community on Starkston’s website
www.JudithStarkston.com
https://www.facebook.com/judy.starkston
https://twitter.com/JudithStarkston
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22292370-hand-of-fire
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